The New Heat
by seek-to-enchant121584
Summary: This is a tale of Max going into heat after she breaks everyone out of Manticore, going straight for Alec. However, this one is a little different. You see, Alec resists her heat pheromones. And succeeds. So take a peek inside, and read this particular twist on Max's heat cycle. The new heat. Oneshot.


Author's note: Rereading some of my stories, as well as some of my DA favorites, I realized I'm sticking to a particular set of heat-related traits, and not straying outside the box. So, I came up with this. My first DA heat fic where Alec _can_ overcome, rather than succumb, to Max's pheromones.

Music suggestions: 'The look' by Roxette, 'Candy' by Foxy Brown, 'Hot boyz' by Missy Elliot.

Disclaimer: Don't own Dark Angel.

The New Heat

The night was already well under way at Crash, music thumping off the walls, the air surrounding the multicultural assortment of people energetic and alive as Alec studied the crowd, seated at one of the rare to find manhole tables that made the bar unique. Chatting good-naturedly with OC and Sketchy, they all awaited the fourth member of their group.

Someone well known for her blasé and dismissive attitude towards being on time.

With his back to the entrance, scanning a voluptuous blonde at the bar giving him the eye, Alec broke the connection when OC cursed in an alarmed tone.

"Oh, snap." OC exclaimed, her wide-eyed gaze fixed on something over his left shoulder.

Curiosity peaked, predominant cat DNA and all that, Alec partially swiveled around on his stool. And promptly cursed low under his breath.

Max was in heat. In public. In the same room with him.

Alec quickly turned back around to face OC. The longer he could avoid contact with Max, of any kind, the better off everyone was.

"I'd say the situation warrants something a little bit heavier than 'snap'." Alec commented observationally, hunching his shoulders and leaning down on the table, a physical effort to make himself as small and inconspicuous as possible. Pulling a few bills from his jacket pocket, Alec held the money out across the table at Sketchy. "Hey, Sketch, go grab us another pitcher." Alec commanded in a casual, yet firm tone.

Not questioning the request, or the abrupt change in mood, Sketchy snatched the money out of Alec's fingers and took off for the bar.

Alec returned his attention to OC, his expression uncharacteristically sedate. "This could be a serious problem. She's gonna come straight for me. And before you say anything, I'm not just being full of myself. It's a simple matter of genetics. Seeing as how there's no other transgenics around..." Alec paused, letting the words sink in. OC nodded in an understated way. Alec continued. "I can resist her, it's not like it's a physical impossibility, but she's going to be _very_ persistent."

"Been through all this with my Boo before." OC informed him, down with Alec's explanation up to that point. "We need to get her outta here before she makes too much of a scene, and you my best shot at that, ya hear?"

"Yeah." Alec agreed, his expression grim. "That's where your 'snap' becomes a serious understatement. Something more appropriately along the lines of 'oh, sh'...hey, Maxie." Alec finished in a cheerful tone, sending a miffed glare OC's way and wincing from her swift warning kick to his shin before he rotated around to meet Max's gaze. And his jaw nearly unhinged. "Wow, Max. You're looking...hot tonight."

"Hey, there. Lookin' pretty fine yourself." Max returned suggestively, lips quirked upward and a seductive smolder in her eyes as her gaze skimmed his body from head to toe. "And you smell good enough to eat, did you know that? I never realized it before."

Prepared as he was for Max's advances, her direct comment on his scent knocked him off guard. Knowing she was going to come on strong was one thing. Actually experiencing it...he really wasn't prepared for this.

Alec visibly gulped before he responded, half an octave higher.

"You don't say?" Alec asked with an uncomfortable smirk, unsure of how to respond. He then held one arm up, sniffed, then repeated the action on the other arm.

He could hear Max's amused laughter to his action, and his lips curved of their own volition. He'd never really heard Max laugh before.

OC then proceeded to rap him on the shoulder with her handbag.

"What?" Alec directed over his shoulder at OC. "I was just checking if I smelled different." And he didn't. Of course, Max wasn't just picking up on his deodorant and aftershave.

"You wanna dance with me?" Max asked in a sultry tone, frowning at the interaction between Alec and OC.

Up this close, it was nearly impossible to not hear the suggestive undertone in her voice, or how her body was dumping pheromones like last years' out-of-style clearance fashion line. It was like a physical wave, repeatedly crashing up against his brain, cajoling him for just one taste, one kiss, one bite...

He was halfway out of his stool, leaning into Max like she was the pied piper when OC whapped him again, this time on the head.

"Thanks." Alec grumbled in a chagrined, ill-mannered tone, pushing to his feet with a more determined, more _controlled_ air about him as Max sent him a scorching grin and wove her way into the crowd towards the dance floor.

OC followed in Alec's wake as he went after Max, slicing through the crowd, prepared to knock sense into the only sensible person in the building, other than herself, should the occasion arise again. The surreality of that other person being Alec was _not_ lost on the Nubian princess.

"Max." Alec called out, the shivery softness in his tone sending warning signals though OC's brain just as Alec reached out and snagged Max's arm. He leaned in close, speaking in a low, smooth tone into her ear. "Let's get outta here."

Max leaned into his touch, lining her body along his, her face turning and nuzzling his neck. "Sounds like a great idea."

Alec shook his head imperceptibly at OC when she moved in to intervene again. She narrowed her eyes perceptibly, but held back at his behest, noting the awareness still present in his expression.

Internally restraining himself from taking her fully into his arms right there, and showing everyone in the room just who Max would be taking home that night and what they'd be doing when they got there, a fissure of pain lanced up his spine with the conscious decision to reject Max's advances.

Resisting a female in heat wasn't physically impossible. He'd heard it could be done. It just hurt like fucking hell apparently.

Having never experienced the sensation himself, just what Biggs and a few other X4's and 5's that he was close to back at Manticore had related back to him, he didn't know if that was normal, or not. But then, if any of them had experienced pain, why hadn't any of them ever mentioned it?

Easing his way through the packed room to the exit, debating whether or not breathing was necessary at that moment due to Max's pheromones permeating his very pores with every intake of air, Max pulled him to a halt. He glanced back at her curiously, but also with a hint of dread.

"Don't you want to kiss me first?" Max purred in a coaxing tone, smiling up at him invitingly.

Another white hot knife of pain sliced through his brain, in counterbalance to his resistant internal decision. His head fell back and Alec muffled a groan at the triggered effect in his brain.

"You have no idea." Alec replied in a gravelly tone, pitched so low only Max could hear. "But not here."

"Why not?" Max asked dubiously, her gaze roving over the crowded bar in an unconcerned fashion.

"Because there's too many people around." Alec retorted matter-of-factly, tugging her towards the exit once again.

"So what?" Max tossed back with a dismissive wave, allowing Alec to tow her along. An act that, at any other time, would have ended with bodily harm. On Alec's behalf. "I don't mind an audience. I also wouldn't mind letting them know you're off the market." Max added as an afterthought.

"Let's just get outside, alright?" Alec propositioned, practically begging. As a red-hot skewer of dissonance shot down his spine, an idea began to form in his mind. If only they could get outside. The brisk late-September air might help take the edge off. And maybe if luck was on his side, the wind might take her scent away from him and he could think clearly. Before Max was forced to move on due to his brain being reduced to a pile of genetically-enhanced goo on the sidewalk.

He wanted to test whether there was conditioning involved. The dissonance increased with the more exposure to Max's pheromones. The harder he resisted, the worse the pain. It sounded a hell of a lot like something Manticore would cook up to ensure the success of their plan. Whatever the hell that may be.

They were almost to the stairs when Max stopped again, moving in front of him and facing him.

"I don't want OC." Max stated in a firm tone, directing a pointed look around his right shoulder before looking back up at Alec, her expression softening as she met his gaze. One of her hands came up to trail lightly up and down the center of his chest. "Just you."

Alec avoided breathing deeply, holding onto Max's gaze steadfastly, his head a steady throb of pain. Alec worked a teasing smirk onto his lips. "But you guys live together."

"We'll just go back to your place, no prob." Max countered in an off-hand tone, a hint of irritation creeping into her tone.

Apparently, even in her current condition, he could still piss her off.

The thought almost made him chuckle. Almost.

Instead, he pulled her in close, hugging her to his chest. A diversionary tactic as he felt her sigh contentedly into his embrace, snuggling in as close as she physically could as he rotated them enough to signal OC.

His expression was set and incisive when he held his right hand splayed out behind Max's back before pointing towards the exit, indicating she follow in five minutes. He then slowly mouthed the words "my place" before kissing the top of Max's head affectionately. He caught OC's nod of assent before he pulled Max back around and up the stairs.

"My place it is." Alec agreed in an effulgent tone as he carted Max out the door and towards her motorcycle.

ooozooooo*ooouoooooo*

"Why, Alec?" Max asked in an incensed tone, fury clear in her stiff posture and hands balled into fists. Her next words were hissed out between clenched teeth. "Why did you have to kiss me?"

Glancing around Jam Pony in an attempt to avoid doing something stupid, like announcing their argument to the rest of the place, Alec finished sorting through his locker before speaking. He really wasn't in the mood for a post-heat confrontation with Max. Hell, it'd been three days since he'd successfully resisted sleeping with her heat-motivated self. And she was what, pissed at him for his one "slip-up"? His head still hurt like a bitch, and he hadn't had a decent night's sleep due to only getting his apartment back from the double-trouble duo only the night before. His bed still smelled like Max, and now that she'd been there, he couldn't stop picturing her there.

"Because it hurt, Max." Alec flung back at her, frustration radiating off of him in waves as he slammed his locker shut and rotated around to face her with a fed up expression.

"Well then why did you bother resisting at all?" Max bit out in retaliation, angry at Alec for kissing her, and furious with herself and her heat hormones at craving more of him. Even after her heat ended. "Would have been the easiest piece of tail you've ever gotten. Didn't have to work for it at all. That's usually right up your alley, isn't it?"

"Would you have preferred the alternative? If I had?" Alec retaliated in a low aggravated tone, glaring down at her as he took a step closer into her personal space. "Because you'd likely be pregnant right now if I had followed through. That is the whole point, after all."

Max glared up at him with narrowed eyes, the muscles around her eyes twitching from the strain of reigning in her temper. He continued speaking.

"You wouldn't back off, Max! And my brain felt like it was being sliced by thousands of tiny razor blades every time I breathed. You already consider me the ultimate screw-up in your mind. I didn't want you looking at me like I was the worst mistake of your life. I couldn't stand to see that look of loathing and regret in your eyes, knowing I'd put it there if I'd had sex with you. The only woman I've ever really cared about looked at me that way the last time I saw her alive and awake. I wouldn't be able to handle it again. Not from you. Kissing you was the lesser of two evils. It calmed you down long enough for OC to cut in and me to beat it before my brain started leaking out of my ears." Alec finished in explanation, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

Max remained stubbornly silent for a minute, trying to filter through all that he'd just told her. Dealing the "Rachel" card had been a low blow, appealing to the heart he knew she hid behind layers of icy indifference. Since finding out the truth about Berrisford and a sliver of Alec's well-disguised dark past, Max tried a little harder to be more understanding. It was a lot harder than it sounded.

He just played so well at being a pain in her ass. Times like this actually made her pause to think.

It was a real kick to the head, being so similar to another person that you forgot how to understand them. Forgot that they'd gone through the same shit she had, and developed a defensive armor to hide all the hurt and betrayal behind. To survive.

"Did you have to beat anything else out after you left?" Max quipped in an off-hand tone, convinced her heat must have left a few lingering hormones behind for her to ask such a question. She pulled back minutely, blinking in surprise at the words that had actually passed her lips. Apparently, she was genuinely curious if her heat had affected him in such a way. It was from an entirely scientific standpoint, no personal interest at all.

Yeah right.

Alec paused to look over at her as if she'd been body snatched, his hand halfway through his hair.

She didn't call him out on it when he surreptitiously sniffed the air, checking for heat pheromones. He stared at her in a calculating way before he answered.

"No. Well, at least not until I got my apartment back. Last night, I tried to sleep in my bed, and I discovered that someone _else_ had been sleeping in my bed." Alec informed her in an even tone, holding eye contact with her. He paused for effect. "Naked."

Max inwardly cringed. She'd almost forgotten about that. It explained why she was missing her best pair of panties. She'd most likely left those behind as punishment for leaving her high and dry. Well, according to her heat addled mind, anyway. Now it was all rather mortifying.

"My bad." Max said in mildly apologetic tone, cursing herself for getting into this mess.

"Did you know you smell good enough to eat?" Alec asked in a warm, sensual tone, pitched low enough for only Max to hear. Her breath stuttered in her chest, the question familiar. He continued, taking her hitched breath as a response. "Like heaven and sin rolled into one. Do you think maybe one day, if I work hard enough, I could be the one to earn that privilege?"

Yep, definitely a few lingering heat hormones in her system. It took everything in her not to answer with a whimper and "Would now work for you?".

"Is it supposed to hurt?" Max asked instead, choosing to redirect her attention and the conversation before she started something in the middle of Jam Pony. Something entirely opposite of what she'd intended on starting when she'd first walked into the building with the intention to confront him. "Resisting?"

"As far as I know, no. It's not." Alec replied, holding his hands out in a helpless gesture and taking a step back.

"So what's your dealio then?" Max mused aloud.

"How the fuck should I know?" Alec grumbled insolently in a hushed tone. "For all I know, Manticore went in there, put some special kind of behavioral conditioning, to ensure successful 'breeding' whenever you went into heat. In fact, I'm almost positive that's what it was. It's the only explanation that makes sense."

"What did you just say?" Max hissed out, dragging him down into a seated position alongside her on the bench.

"You know it's possible." Alec stated in a sedate tone, meeting her gaze directly. "It may have even been one of that crazy bitch's primary objectives before she got a sample of Logan's blood. A way to fully assimilate you back into Manticore. It's harder to escape when you're under constant supervision _and_ pregnant."

"What, were they just _hoping_ my heat cycle kicked in right under their noses all convenient-like?" Max replied in an ill-tempered tone.

"They'd have probably induced it." Alec countered in a dark tone, just as tetchy about the subject as Max. "Just a matter of injecting you with the right mix of hormones if you hadn't obeyed orders in a timely fashion. Or gotten knocked up. As if they didn't trust me, at least, to follow orders."

"Of course they'd have ways of making that happen." Max grumbled, frowning at her leg as if it were the cause of all her troubles. "And what makes you so special? You weren't exactly a pillar for trustworthiness at that point anyway."

"They didn't know that." Alec countered insolently. His next words came out in a more optimistic tone. "Fortunately, you broke us all out before anything like that could happen. And now we know what to do the next time it happens."

"Vacate Seattle?" Max suggested, a tiny thread of teasing weaving into her tone. Much as she wanted a reason to stay pissed at him, it really wasn't his fault. In fact, if she weren't so bent on it being Alec, she might have gave him a pat on the back for being so stand up about her heat. She'd never before met a guy that had even _thought_ of trying to turn her offering of sex down, let alone following through and actually not sleeping with her.

A wry grin pulled at the corners of Alec's lips as he stood up from the bench. "Just sleep with you?"

Max let loose a half-hearted punch to Alec's shoulder, shaking her head.

"Hey, now. Don't knock it 'til you try it." Alec continued in a mock-serious tone, after accepting the knock on his shoulder and wincing with exaggerated pain. "So, we good now? You not still pissed at me for _not_ sleeping with you?" Alec asked in a mostly solemn tone. Without waiting for her answer, he turned away as an unrepentant grin spread across his face, and leaned over to pick up his messenger bag.

Reacting naturally, Max leaned back on the bench, lifted her leg, and kicked him in the backside just as he turned away from her, knocking him off balance and into the bank of lockers headfirst.

"Seriously, Maxie?" Alec said in a superior tone, as he finished scooping up his messenger bag from the floor and straightening up to his full height. "Little childish, isn't it?"

"Bip, bip." Max commanded with a small reflection of his previous smile, waving him away in a good imitation of Normal.

"Later, Max." Alec tossed over his shoulder, directing a mock-salute her way before he left.

He was way too attractive for his own good. Even she wasn't that narcissistic, and she knew she how to use her looks when she needed to.

Of course, she _had_ gone straight for him while high on a heat haze, _and_ he'd been the one to forcefully drag her away from that line. A line that most men didn't hesitate to cross when she offered it so freely.

Maybe she was a little bit delusional. Or judgmental. The jury was still out in her mind.

oooozoooo*ooouoooooo*ooomoooooo

The "behavioral conditioning" is a tip of the hat to Nalini Singh. Her new book is awesome! I _so_ totally predicted who the Ghost was. Anyway...hope you all enjoyed my deviation from my norm!


End file.
